clear the air" and one of the lesser known political events yesterday was the president signing into law the mark twain co-membmmemorati act. they'll be sold with a surcharge to help respect research and education to honor the great man of letters. but there was another political event yesterday on the floor of the senate. that was the absolute reverse of this noble act of veneration. in the presence of a wheelchair-bound war hero, 89-year-old former senator bob dole, members gathered, hoping to ratify a united nations treaty that's based entirely on the americans with disabilities act. it would ensure that people with disabilities are granted the same general rights as anyone else. and it's a treaty that anyone with a modicom of sense and civic fairness would find impossible to oppose, as senator john kerry explained. >> bob dole, why is he here? he's not here because he's here to advocate for the united nations. he is here because he wants to know that other countries will come to treat the disabled the way we do. >> yet incredibly, republican[ç refused to support the treaty. the meas